Railway-switch.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT F. GILMORE AND WILLIAM G. COOK, OF MONTPELIER, INDIANA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT F. GILMORE and WILLIAM C. 000K, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Montpelier, in the county of Blackfordand State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements inRailway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic street railway switches, the objectof the invention being to provide means under the ready control of themotorman for throwing a switch at any given point while standing in hisusual position on the car platform, the switch emodying a switch railoperating device mounted in the road-bed and adapted to be automaticallyraised and lowered by the movement of the car to bring the same to aposition where it is operable by another device carried by the car.

With the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will morefully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in thenovel construction,combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morefully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portionof a car and railway showing the invention ap lied thereto. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the roa -bed. Fig; 3 is a similar view with the cover ofthe pit removed, showing the mechanism arranged in the pit. Fig. 4 is avertical tranverse section through thepit and railway. Fig. 5 is adetail cross-section showing the latch mechanism. Fig. 6 is an enlargedside elevation showing the presser rail. Fig. 7 is an enlarged sideelevation of the switch rail shifting bar.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, 1 designates the main rails and 2 the sidingor switch rails, while 3 designates a pivoted and shiftable switch railsection, the same being pivotally mounted at one end, as shown at 4,while the opposite end thereof is free to be swung laterally to one sideor the other to guide the wheels of the car either along the main trackor the switch as may be desired.

In carrying out the present invention, a pit is constructed below theplane of the tops of the rails, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, said pitbeing inclosed by a suitable casing repre sented at 5, which casing isadapted to contain the greater part of the operative mechanism of theswitch-throwing device. The to of the pit is inclosed by a cover plate 6an the central portion of said plate is provided witha manhole 7 havinga manhole cover 8, the upper side of which is recessed as shown at 9, toreceive a head-piece or trip 10 which is operable by a rojection on thecar to be hereinafter descri ed.

' The trip 10 is mounted on the upper end of a rock-shaft 11 whichextends through the manhole cover and is adapted to be raised andlowered as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4.. Beneath the cover8, the shaft 11 is provided with a crank 12 to which is connected oneend of a switch rail shifting bar 13 which extends laterally toward oneof the rails and connects with the pivoted switch rail 3, above referredto, for the purpose of shifting the point of said shift rail to one sideor the other. v

The means for raising and lowering the rock-shaft 11 embodies atrip-raising lever 14 fulcrumed intermediate its ends at 15 within thepit, one end of said lever being connected by a joint to the lower endof the shaft 11, while the other end has pivotally connected thereto alink 16 which extends upward and is pivotally connected at its oppositeend to a presser rail 17 extending along one of the track rails, asshown in Fi s. 2, 3 and 6. The presser rail 17 is pivotal y connected atone end as shown at 18 to the track rail so as to lie within the lanetraversed by the flanges of the whee s at one side of the car and as thecar approaches the switch, the wheels bear downward upon and de ress thepresser rail 17 which, through the ink connection 16, rocks the lever 14and elevates the shaft 11 until the trip device or crosshead 10 israised high enough to be struck by a projection on the car, whichprojection acts to turn said head in one direction or the other, therebyrocking the shaft 11 and pushing or drawing the shifting bar 13 tocorrespondingl shift the switch rail 3.

The rai shifting bar 13 has its outer end slotted as best illustrated inFig. 7 and'within said slot 19 is arranged a sliding box or bearing 20which receives a stud 21 projecting downward from the lower side of theswitch rail 3. At opposite sides of the bearing or box 20 are arrangedcushioning springs 22 which are strong enou h to adapt the bar 13 tomove the switch ra1 from one side to the other but which will also yieldto admit of the necessary rocking movement of the shaft 11 to enable theprojection on the car to pass by the trip or cross-head 10.

In order to hold the switch rail 3 locked in either of its two extremepositions, I employ a latch consisting of a spring bar 23 which issecured to the lower side of the switch rail and provided at oppositeends with latch teeth or shoulders 24 adapted to engage rocking dogs 25mounted on parallel shafts 26 on opposite sides of one of the rails, asshown in Fig. 5. Each of the dogs has a shoulder which normally standsvertically as shown in said Fig. 5, being held in that position by meansof a'coiled spring 27 with the assistance of stop pins 28 and 29, one ofwhich is carried by the shaft of the dog and the other secured to afixed point on the rail, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5. The spring bar 23yields to permit the latch teeth to pass over the points of the dogs andin the reverse movement, the dogs yield by means of the springs 27 topermit the latch teeth to pass out of engagement therewith. The springs27 are of sufficient strength to hold the switch rail to one side or theother as the case may be, until the tension of said springs is overcomeby the rocking of the shaft 11 and the pulling or drawing action of theshifting bar 13.

In order to operate the trip or cross-head 10, a pair of plungers 30 aremounted on and carried by the car, as shown in Fig. 1, and arranged toproject downward from the car at opposite sides of the line of draft ofthe rock shaft 11, one plunger being adapted to throw the tripping head10 to the right and the other to the left. These plungers or projectionsare normally upheld by means of springs 31 which work beneath footpieces 32 on the upper ends of the plungers as shown in Fig. 1. Bydepressing one of said plungers, the car is allowed to continue on themain track, while by depressing the other plunger and releasing thefirst-named plunger, the switch is operated and the car is guided offthe main track.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen thatthe switch operatingmechanism is entirely under the convenient control of the motorman whilestanding in his usual position on the front platform of the car. Themechanism in the pit is rendered easily accessible by simply removingthe manhole cover 8.

If desired, a spring 33 may be arranged under the outer end of the lever14 to normally uphold such end of the lever and maintain the presserrail 17 in position to be operated upon by the car wheel flange.

I- claim:

1. In a switch throwing mechanism, the combination of a switch rail, astud extending therefrom, a longitudinally slotted bar, blocks engagingthe said stud and slidable on the bar, springs acting on the blocks, acrank shaft connected with the bar and for moving the same, and a devicecontrollable from the ear for rocking the said shaft.

2. In a switch tl'lrowing mechanism, the combination of a switch rail, astud extending therefrom, a spring connected with the stud and havinglatches oppositely disposed, and yielding members cooperating with thelatches for yieldingly holding the rail in either of its operativepositions.

3. A railway switch comprising a laterally movable switch rail, anautomatic locking device for yieldingly holding the rail in either ofits operative positions, a vertical rockshaft mounted in the road-bed, atripping head on said shaft, means operable by the car for moving saidshaft lengthwise to set the tripping head thereof in position to beoperated upon by a suitable device carried by the car, and a shiftingbar connecting said shaft with the switch rail, said shifting bar beingprovided with cushioning means, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

4. A railway switch comprising a laterally movable switch rail, avertically extending and longitudinally movable rock shaft mounted inthe road bed and adapted to be operated by a suitable device carried bythe car, a shifting bar interposed between said rock-shaft and theswitch rail and yieldingly connected with the latter, and latchmechanism for holding the switch rail in either of its two operativepositions.

5. A railway switch comprising a laterally movable switch rail, a crankshaft mounted in'the road-bed operable by a suitable device carried bythe car, an operative connection between said crank and the switch rail,and latch mechanism for holding the switch rail in either of its twooperative positions embodying a spring bar, latch teeth thereon, andspring-sustained dogs adapted to engage the latch teeth to hold theswitch rail to one side or the other and also adapted to yield to allowthe latch teeth to be disengaged therefrom under the action of theswitch rail shifting mechanism.

In testimony whereof, we afliX our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT F. GILMORE. WILLIAM C. COOK. Witnesses:

JULIA A. Moonn, DE WITT C. OniPMAN.

